A few posts ago, I mentioned that there were some exciting things yet to be announced in IL Chess for 2008. Well, today it was made official that Chicago will be getting a new franchise in the US Chess league, and our team name is the Blaze.
So far we have commitments to play from GM Dmitry Gurevich, IM Angelo Young, FM Mehmed Pasalic, Ilan Meerovich, and Adam Strunk. We will be filling out our roster in the coming weeks. For those that are unfamiliar with the league. The season consists of a weekly 4 board match with an average rating cap of 2400. There are 10 matches in the regular season with the top 4 teams from the division reaching the playoffs.
These games will be broadcast live, and if you want to watch in person, our home venue will be Angelo Young's Touch Move Chess Center. The team manager will be Glenn Panner, PR manager will be Tom Panelas, and the techno-geek will be Sevan Muradian helping make sure our moves transmit.
It is my sincere hope that this will be a common interest here in the state with local players and even school programs following the results and the team. As much as we sometimes don't get along so well with each other, if there is one thing most Chicago sports fans can agree on, we like New York teams even less. I will be blogging about the team with great frequency. Coverage will also be found on the US Chess league site, The Knights of Castle Kimbark blog, and likely at the 64 square journal, which all have links on this blog. Feel free to fire away with any questions or suggestions about the team, I will be glad to reply.
Glenn
Glenn
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I wish the team good luck and I hope in the second season we will all learn how the team is selected.
Jon Burgess
Jon,
Why wait until the second season to know about the selection process? I am glad to explain it now. Please keep in mind the 2400 average rating cap when cosidering how the roster is structured.
First, we prefer players that are based out of Illinois, so unfortunately Anand is out. I envision the first board being a GM, and Gurevich has been so kind to support our effort. I would really like to get a 2nd GM on the roster so that Dmitry does not have to play in all 10 matches.
Boards 2 and 3 I would like to be 2400+ players, so Young and Pasalic were naturals for this, I would really like to add Jan Van De Mortel so that we can rotate him in to the mix and once again not have to depend on players making it 10 weeks in a row.
Board 4 needs to be an expert by necessity to stay under the cap. We are fortunate to have a couple of very strong young players like Meerovich and Strunk that are threats to take out a player who out rates them. Since they both are in school, it makes some sense to add a 3rd player in that range.
We also have a couple of alternate spots that can play in up to two matches. For those spots I will likely be looking for players in the 2200-2300 range to give us some flexibility to play board 3 if necessary, or in the case that we don't have a GM available one week, to play board 4.
If anyone meets these ratings, and has interest in competing, please email me. While I can't promise anything, it is much nicer to have players that really have interest.
Glenn
so glenn
Im glad you have explained how the selection process works. From reading your post I can tell a couple of things. Unless your a GM you probably wont be on board one unless you have a super high rating 2500+. On board 2 and 3 unless your 2400+ for some reason you wont be playing on those boards. As for the 4th board you dont get to play unless your under 2200 because of the rating cap.
So really the people between 2200-2400 have little chance of being on this chicago based team. It is sad because I know of other teams who have 2200 and 2100 players on them of course they dont play to win every match which it sounds like chicago is planning on doing.
I wish the team good luck and maybe when by some miracle my rating reaches 2400 or goes down to 2100 more chance of it going down then up. Then I will contact you again about being on the team.
Jon Burgess
Jon,
There will be times that we need 2200-2300 players in matches. I just feel that the teams like Dallas that put 3 2400+ players in their lineup have an advantage in this format.
Let me ask you this, if you were in charge of selecting a roster, you know the Chicago area players, who would you choose? and why? Would you "play to win"?
Glenn
Glenn
Ok here are the players I would select and the reasons why
1. IM Angelo Young - reason he is a strong IM and it would do him good to play against other GM's
2. FM Jan Van De Mortel - reason he is a strong player and should be an IM
3. A 2200 player like myself or someone else who can handle stronger players
4. A 2100 rated junior who deserves a chance to play stronger players and improve
I would advise picking people who love chess and not just winning games.
The point of playing in the league should be to enjoy chess and have a fun time doing it. There shouldn't be any pressure to win all the time and do well constantly.
Well those are just my opinions of course.
Jon Burgess
Jon,
Very nice response. So, we agree on Angelo. We agree on VanDeMortel, he is one of the people that I am waiting to hear from. We agree on a player like Strunk or Meerovich (or Menon) as a talented 2100 junior. We agree on quite a lot.
You feel as I do as well, that there should be a place for the 2200-2300 player on the team. I do too, and during weeks that Dmitry does not play, our lineup may look very much like what you propose there. Our main difference is that I feel that when a long time Chicago GM and nice guy like Gurevich offers his services, you don't turn it down. And the increased chance at winning doesn't hurt either.
Glenn
well Im not sure if being a long time GM in IL should be automatic qualification however as I said before team selection is your realm.
Jon
glennpan,
May you be praised!
You are the coolest and best!
Glenn once said, many years ago, at the old club, "don't hate me because I am cool..."
; )
Post a Comment